Wednesday, November 28, 2007
I am sorry for my stupidness..
So, I didn't get it... Are we gonna extend classical music wiki page or create Future of Classical music and link it to Classical music page.....
good example of encyclopedia article.
russian wiki classical music page... first they give explanation what is term music is.
2 term "classical music" as an quality mark when you name music.
3 term "classical music" as a period in music
4 term "classical music" by typological means
free russian english translator
2 term "classical music" as an quality mark when you name music.
3 term "classical music" as a period in music
4 term "classical music" by typological means
free russian english translator
Class picture
so today we had a confusion with wiki Futureclass Sandbox...
so instead of this link that we were trying to use
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Futureclass/sandbox*
it was actually this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Futureclass/Sandbox , if you notice difference only in capital first letter, but since computers are using a 32 character code it is different for them.
*(if you will go there now, I made a link to a actual Sandbox)...
About blogging
Technology
Internet
Blogging <= can't we just make an internal link to "blog" page and make a subtopic there about classical music blogs, or I don't know concerts review blogs?
so instead of this link that we were trying to use
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Futureclass/sandbox*
it was actually this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Futureclass/Sandbox , if you notice difference only in capital first letter, but since computers are using a 32 character code it is different for them.
*(if you will go there now, I made a link to a actual Sandbox)...
About blogging
Technology
Internet
Blogging <= can't we just make an internal link to "blog" page and make a subtopic there about classical music blogs, or I don't know concerts review blogs?
Sandbox activated
I spent some time in the sandbox and started to fill in the section "composition". I had to made some changes in the structure, because there were many terms mixed up. So there are missing some headlines know (for instance "notation", but I hope to incorporate these subjects into other sections. I also focused on the first half of the century, so there is still a lot of work to do for after 1950.
Every week
Hey all, I just updated my user page. We talk a lot about what is going on in music today, and there have been numerous mentions of the New York Times. What I try and do every week (and usually only get around to the morning before class) is go through the NYT online page and find interesting articles to link to. I've just finished the next round of reading/sifting, so check it out and let me know what you think on the talk page. Feel free to add your own articles as well! I think it would be good to have something like this available to our whole class. I don't know how it would be recieved, but I think it would be good to do something like this (with regular updates) within the larger Wikipedia realm. Again, feedback is good!
Updates! (namely on the Longy wiki page)
I just made a couple of small updates on wikipedia pages here and there, including links to my undergraduate school's music department and symphony orchestra webpages. I also updated the Longy page a little, adding the Artist Diploma and Dalcroze Certificate and License (any Dalcroze ppl might want to take a look at it to make sure what I put is reasonable... I just put what I deduced from the Longy website). I added a section for Continuing Studies as well.
I noticed that the wiki pages of some institutions (e.x.. UC Davis and Berklee) have a link for a list of notable alumni. It would be nice for Longy to have one, too, but I don't know where to find this information. Perhaps someone could start it? Also, the wiki page says that Longy is the only conservatory in the Boston area that follows the French conservatoire model, but it doesn't explain what that is, and I dont' know what it is, either. Could someone clarify that?
I noticed that the wiki pages of some institutions (e.x.. UC Davis and Berklee) have a link for a list of notable alumni. It would be nice for Longy to have one, too, but I don't know where to find this information. Perhaps someone could start it? Also, the wiki page says that Longy is the only conservatory in the Boston area that follows the French conservatoire model, but it doesn't explain what that is, and I dont' know what it is, either. Could someone clarify that?
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Making money on the internet
I was reading about Youtube on wikipedia (the article) and found an interesting section about how they make money on YouTube (advertising, which I was talking about on some earlier post). Apparently there is a book about this written in Dec 2006 entitled Wikinomics by Tapscott and Williams that talks about this exact thing. I thought it was cool and really want to read the book now.
Another page I found, said that sales for Classical music was actually up (as seen from the Nielsen SoundScan report comparing 2006 sales to 2005 sales which they make available in the article) due to internet sales (this they did not provide a source for). The article basically espoused Chris Anderson's view from his book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More. It basically says that physical record stores cannot keep a huge stock of classical CDs because they won't sell well and have to make room for popular CDs that sell well. With the internet, it is much much cheaper to keep a large inventory so people who are looking for a specific CD will be able to find it online. Though they won't be able to sell very many of each CD or song, since the inventory is so large, they will make pretty good money.
And a note about the Nielsen SoundScan sales report - it is the source for Billboard ratings, and the RIAA actually uses an independent sale-tracking system. The Nielsen report tracks sales from retail sales (like when a barcode is scanned), mass retail, and online sales, only exculding some independent retailers and online outlets. The RIAA report tracks shipments, according to the wikipedia article, which is sourceless for this point. Makes me wonder... how could they say they have lost 300 million due to piracy?
Another page I found, said that sales for Classical music was actually up (as seen from the Nielsen SoundScan report comparing 2006 sales to 2005 sales which they make available in the article) due to internet sales (this they did not provide a source for). The article basically espoused Chris Anderson's view from his book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More. It basically says that physical record stores cannot keep a huge stock of classical CDs because they won't sell well and have to make room for popular CDs that sell well. With the internet, it is much much cheaper to keep a large inventory so people who are looking for a specific CD will be able to find it online. Though they won't be able to sell very many of each CD or song, since the inventory is so large, they will make pretty good money.
And a note about the Nielsen SoundScan sales report - it is the source for Billboard ratings, and the RIAA actually uses an independent sale-tracking system. The Nielsen report tracks sales from retail sales (like when a barcode is scanned), mass retail, and online sales, only exculding some independent retailers and online outlets. The RIAA report tracks shipments, according to the wikipedia article, which is sourceless for this point. Makes me wonder... how could they say they have lost 300 million due to piracy?
Contest on Wikipedia
I just noticed today there's a contest in Wikipedia for the most improved article. Five people will be choosen to win $100 on December 9th!
The only catch is that the article must come from thier list of core subjects. So I reviewed the list and there 27 articles about classical music on this list. These articles range from composers - such a Mahler - to instruments such as the violin and trombone.
The contest is posted in your watchlist section of your user page.
The only catch is that the article must come from thier list of core subjects. So I reviewed the list and there 27 articles about classical music on this list. These articles range from composers - such a Mahler - to instruments such as the violin and trombone.
The contest is posted in your watchlist section of your user page.
Monday, November 26, 2007
I'm for Schoenberg!
Among all the papers and articles I'm trying to collect about our topic, this is the most exotic one:
http://tinyurl.com/367fhl , you have to look at it at the library because it's from the JSTOR catalogue!
In 1984, the International Music Council (I didn't know something like that exists) sent out questionnaires to leading persons in the music world. One of these questionnaires was published by the very eccentric and controversial composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. He is "disgusted by the world's most famous interpreters who are not serving musical progress" and thinks that music has never been in a worse status than now...
Reading his text was quite interesting, sometimes even funny; although I have great respect of the music of Mr. Stockhausen, his opinions are quite arguable. I think this text represents the opinion of a whole generation of especially European composers in a maybe exaggerated way - I have to think about Boulez, who is also famous for his arrogance towards other music than the one he's writing himself. Nevertheless, I think it's a waste of time to talk about how backwards or arrogant these opinions are. And I feel that a lot of people do it. They spend a lot of time blaming composers like Stockhausen for their isolation of the masses, they blame Schoenberg for his idea of concerts only for experts. But they forget that this doesn't matter any more. Instead of complaining, they should just play the music and try to make it interesting for a wider range of audience.
I write this because I was irritated during the last weeks that Schoenberg is always called the bad guy who's fault it is that we don't enjoy contemporary music anymore. I got this impression from different directions, including the books we have to read. Doesn't everybody know that the model of concerts for experts doesn't work any more? Isn't it clear that an attitude like the one of Stockhausen leads to nothing? Compared to Stockhausen, I'm pretty young, and when I was introduced to his music in high school, there was a clear distinction between the music he writes and what else he says. Why can't we like the music of someone and at the same time distance ourselves from the personal opinions of the composer?
(I thank Alex Ross for the very nice comment on Schoenberg during the question-session - it felt really good to hear that not everybody hates him)
http://tinyurl.com/367fhl , you have to look at it at the library because it's from the JSTOR catalogue!
In 1984, the International Music Council (I didn't know something like that exists) sent out questionnaires to leading persons in the music world. One of these questionnaires was published by the very eccentric and controversial composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. He is "disgusted by the world's most famous interpreters who are not serving musical progress" and thinks that music has never been in a worse status than now...
Reading his text was quite interesting, sometimes even funny; although I have great respect of the music of Mr. Stockhausen, his opinions are quite arguable. I think this text represents the opinion of a whole generation of especially European composers in a maybe exaggerated way - I have to think about Boulez, who is also famous for his arrogance towards other music than the one he's writing himself. Nevertheless, I think it's a waste of time to talk about how backwards or arrogant these opinions are. And I feel that a lot of people do it. They spend a lot of time blaming composers like Stockhausen for their isolation of the masses, they blame Schoenberg for his idea of concerts only for experts. But they forget that this doesn't matter any more. Instead of complaining, they should just play the music and try to make it interesting for a wider range of audience.
I write this because I was irritated during the last weeks that Schoenberg is always called the bad guy who's fault it is that we don't enjoy contemporary music anymore. I got this impression from different directions, including the books we have to read. Doesn't everybody know that the model of concerts for experts doesn't work any more? Isn't it clear that an attitude like the one of Stockhausen leads to nothing? Compared to Stockhausen, I'm pretty young, and when I was introduced to his music in high school, there was a clear distinction between the music he writes and what else he says. Why can't we like the music of someone and at the same time distance ourselves from the personal opinions of the composer?
(I thank Alex Ross for the very nice comment on Schoenberg during the question-session - it felt really good to hear that not everybody hates him)
Pandora classical
So, I've been a fan of Pandora, the internet radio station that claims to have "mapped music's genome", for ages. Type in the names of a few bands/songs you like, and presto pandora starts playing songs by those artists, other bands that share similar traits, and songs by people you've never heard of that totally suit your taste. Don't like something it suggests? Just click the little 'I don't like this' button and the player goes off in a different direction, eager to please.
But what was always sad about Pandora is that it wouldn't touch classical music with a 10-foot stick. Well, no more! On Nov. 15 Pandora announced the creation of "Pandora Classical", boasting of over 10,000 'songs' by over 500 different composers from baroque to contemporary. Cool! To commemorate this happy occasion I updated Pandora's wikipedia page!
As for the service itself... well... I'm going to hope that as they continue to upload more music by more composers, identifying more 'genes', their ability to read my mind will improve. On my first test of the new classical service, I created a station and told it that I like Bartok and Prokofiev. I was deliberately non-specific (meaning, I didn't say I like Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and Prokofiev's 1st symphony) because I wanted to see where it would go. The player started off with Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, and followed that with Bartok's concerto for orchestra. Nice (if not particularly inspired) choices, both of which I like. I decided to just keep clicking 'Yes, I like this' for everything to see where we would wind up. Within 8 'songs' we were at Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. (Which, actually, I do also like.) But I was curious... why would Pandora think a Bartok/Prokofiev person would also like Swan Lake?? I hit the 'Why did you play this?" button and was told Pandora thought I would like it because of the 'non-pitched percussion instruments'!! Which in turn was due to me saying that I enjoyed it when Pandora picked Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin...
You can see why I think the service will need continued tweaking.
But what was always sad about Pandora is that it wouldn't touch classical music with a 10-foot stick. Well, no more! On Nov. 15 Pandora announced the creation of "Pandora Classical", boasting of over 10,000 'songs' by over 500 different composers from baroque to contemporary. Cool! To commemorate this happy occasion I updated Pandora's wikipedia page!
As for the service itself... well... I'm going to hope that as they continue to upload more music by more composers, identifying more 'genes', their ability to read my mind will improve. On my first test of the new classical service, I created a station and told it that I like Bartok and Prokofiev. I was deliberately non-specific (meaning, I didn't say I like Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and Prokofiev's 1st symphony) because I wanted to see where it would go. The player started off with Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, and followed that with Bartok's concerto for orchestra. Nice (if not particularly inspired) choices, both of which I like. I decided to just keep clicking 'Yes, I like this' for everything to see where we would wind up. Within 8 'songs' we were at Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. (Which, actually, I do also like.) But I was curious... why would Pandora think a Bartok/Prokofiev person would also like Swan Lake?? I hit the 'Why did you play this?" button and was told Pandora thought I would like it because of the 'non-pitched percussion instruments'!! Which in turn was due to me saying that I enjoyed it when Pandora picked Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin...
You can see why I think the service will need continued tweaking.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Defending Classical Music Against its Devotees
This is an interesting review written by Richard Taruskin ( whose most recent books are The Oxford History of Western Music and revised edition of Music n the Western World: A History in Documents ) that pertains directly to our topic. In the last five years these three books; Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choice and Musical Value - by Johnson, Classical Music, Why Bother? hearing the World of Contemporary Culture through a Composer's Ears - by Fineberg, and Why Classical Music Still Matters - by Kramer, - are adding to the myth that classical music is in a crisis. Taruskin's article brings up some interesting points:
A) Classical music as a political asset. Time magazine and other newspapers use to print the president's favorite classical music pieces.
B) Since the "British invasion" of the Beattles, it became fashionable for intellectuals to listen to commerical music instead of classical music
C) Orchestras are not seen as common cultural heritage of the people - only the elite. This led to classical radio stations and elimination of classical music sections in newspapers and magzines.
D) A vast over population of classical musician exceeds te demand and positions available.
E) To cast an aesthetic preferences as moral choices are absurd
Even though the article is 15 pages long, it's a fast, funny read. Enjoy:)
A) Classical music as a political asset. Time magazine and other newspapers use to print the president's favorite classical music pieces.
B) Since the "British invasion" of the Beattles, it became fashionable for intellectuals to listen to commerical music instead of classical music
C) Orchestras are not seen as common cultural heritage of the people - only the elite. This led to classical radio stations and elimination of classical music sections in newspapers and magzines.
D) A vast over population of classical musician exceeds te demand and positions available.
E) To cast an aesthetic preferences as moral choices are absurd
Even though the article is 15 pages long, it's a fast, funny read. Enjoy:)
FCM Sandbox
I have moved Honorable Ruler's Outline to the central class user page for all of us make changes. Plus, I have added the sandbox disclaimer on our user page.
The project seems to huge to deal with on an individual level. Thanks to Honorable Ruler and our thoughts for developing an outline, we have a place to start. I was thinking that if we divide up the outline among ourselves and start fleshing out the section with already existing Wikipedia articles - all of a sudden we have a direction to go. For example, I was thinking that the composers of the class would want to flesh out the "composition" section. I am intersted in the music education section due to my background as a teacher. As you can see, I have fleshed out the music education section and the improv section.
We may want to spend the last few weeks of the class finding articles, judging their quality, and organizing them onto our outline. The next step would be to fix "edit" the articles that are in dire need of help. Plus, this will give the next FCM class a clear place to continue our work.
What do you guys think?
The project seems to huge to deal with on an individual level. Thanks to Honorable Ruler and our thoughts for developing an outline, we have a place to start. I was thinking that if we divide up the outline among ourselves and start fleshing out the section with already existing Wikipedia articles - all of a sudden we have a direction to go. For example, I was thinking that the composers of the class would want to flesh out the "composition" section. I am intersted in the music education section due to my background as a teacher. As you can see, I have fleshed out the music education section and the improv section.
We may want to spend the last few weeks of the class finding articles, judging their quality, and organizing them onto our outline. The next step would be to fix "edit" the articles that are in dire need of help. Plus, this will give the next FCM class a clear place to continue our work.
What do you guys think?
Here's a Solution to the Link Problem
When I create a blog entry on my computer, there isn't a link button to be found. As I read in the help section, this button only appears in Window applications. So, to create a link to another website, I have to type out a formula which can be found on the
link page.
Hope this helps.....
link page.
Hope this helps.....
Hilary Hahn's website
I wrote a little on this on my userpage, but I didn't want to cut and paste actual text from her website there bc I know Wikipedia wouldn't like it... so I'll just write it here again.
I was just on violinist Hilary Hahn's official website, and she has a page entitled "Opinions" http://www.hilaryhahn.com/opinions.shtml in which she shows a few interviews that she gave to several other musicians who she has worked with on projects and on tour. I thought that 2 of the questions that she asked people were particularly interesting in regards to some of our class discussions over the course of the semester, which were about classical music in schools and applause between movements. Basically, most people are talking about why applause between movements isn't something to get all upset about, and various reasons why classical music education in schools is good for students to become well-rounded, helps develop additional enriching ways of thinking, etc. I just found it really cool to read.
I can't find the link icon on the blog thingy. I'm sorry, I'm lame.
I was just on violinist Hilary Hahn's official website, and she has a page entitled "Opinions" http://www.hilaryhahn.com/opinions.shtml in which she shows a few interviews that she gave to several other musicians who she has worked with on projects and on tour. I thought that 2 of the questions that she asked people were particularly interesting in regards to some of our class discussions over the course of the semester, which were about classical music in schools and applause between movements. Basically, most people are talking about why applause between movements isn't something to get all upset about, and various reasons why classical music education in schools is good for students to become well-rounded, helps develop additional enriching ways of thinking, etc. I just found it really cool to read.
I can't find the link icon on the blog thingy. I'm sorry, I'm lame.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
I made few changes to DigitalAudioPlayers(which still needs more cleaning up... ) page at wikipedia. and Page named Audience stub about age is mine. Unfortunately I can't find the article I am reffering to... (I know the year 2004, but I don't have enough patience to look through 365 newspapers... I don't remember the article name sadly) .....
at Honorable ruler user page I just made few correction under listening ... link them to wikipages also...... dunno what to do with mine user page....
P.S. Alex Ross book is a good piece of reading, his ideas more and more support mine that Musicality is very subjective.... and musician taste is given thing... And society and surrounding people are the one who forms it for you.... and I bet because there is may cultures and more and more dissipation between society level somebody will truly love Britney Spears and somebody will prefer Mozart....
Is it again peasants vs bourgeois?
at Honorable ruler user page I just made few correction under listening ... link them to wikipages also...... dunno what to do with mine user page....
P.S. Alex Ross book is a good piece of reading, his ideas more and more support mine that Musicality is very subjective.... and musician taste is given thing... And society and surrounding people are the one who forms it for you.... and I bet because there is may cultures and more and more dissipation between society level somebody will truly love Britney Spears and somebody will prefer Mozart....
Is it again peasants vs bourgeois?
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
hope the "link" works.....
Special note to deep-fried t. here's the link
Obviously it doesn't work..AHHHH! Instead of being frustrated and angry, here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:At_the_Inn
PS once you get there, to to section 3 "Reformers and their musical innovation."
PSS Someone smarter than I please create a link for easy access.....
Obviously it doesn't work..AHHHH! Instead of being frustrated and angry, here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:At_the_Inn
PS once you get there, to to section 3 "Reformers and their musical innovation."
PSS Someone smarter than I please create a link for easy access.....
The Future of Classical Music: good old wikipedia....
The Future of Classical Music: good old wikipedia....
link: (hope it works) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:At_the_Inn#Reformers_and_their_musical_innovations
link: (hope it works) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:At_the_Inn#Reformers_and_their_musical_innovations
Monday, November 19, 2007
good old wikipedia....
I have a new user page. Please contribute to any innovation in all periods of music. Go to out class list and click on "At the Inn" you'll see the title of "Reformers." if you hate the idea tell me about it, or if you want to add something to it, feel free!!!
Alex Ross lecture + my pessitimistic reaction.
What really struck me about the Lecture was not the fact that music can serve as a weapon (eg: Shostakovich's 7th Symphony vs. the German army). Although, it is quite impressive.
Anyways, what really impressive what the point that he made about how often we hear 20th century music, and how much we actually enjoyed them; and some of them do not breka away from the tonality. For example, Shostakovich symphonies/prelude and fugues. When it comes to Philip Glass, he wrote so much on film music, and little do we pay attention to music when we see a movie, but, the distribution of soundtracks do catagorized under the "soundtrack" section, but the music is 20th century. Samuel Barber's Adagio for String is being score under Platoon, and often played at the Copley Square mall, or just malls in general. (It's not like people hated the music). It's the fact that we gave 20th century music such a bad name. Because we are stuck to Schoenberg's idea of unresolved dissoncnes. And Ross pointed out that maybe that's what Schoneberg wanted. He wanted the music to sound so dissonanced, maybe is his way to reflect on today's society. But, the way he organized the music in the most mathematical, conscious way that it influenced many many composers. Such as Messiean, known for his total serialism, And Webern, pointillistic style with 12 tone. Which reminds me of "Less is more." philosophy, and associated it well with "minimalism." If Schoneberg's truly wanted to achieve music that reflects today's world, he definately succeeded!!! Reason I said it is because although the society is very organized within a hiearchy, we have order, justice etc. But, we faced with stress, have to deal with the noise in the city (such as cars engines' their honks, traffic noisce, construction sites, backgroud radio, elevator music, subway's vibrations, other people's conversations especially on their cells etc.) It's a bleak loney world.
Anyways, what really impressive what the point that he made about how often we hear 20th century music, and how much we actually enjoyed them; and some of them do not breka away from the tonality. For example, Shostakovich symphonies/prelude and fugues. When it comes to Philip Glass, he wrote so much on film music, and little do we pay attention to music when we see a movie, but, the distribution of soundtracks do catagorized under the "soundtrack" section, but the music is 20th century. Samuel Barber's Adagio for String is being score under Platoon, and often played at the Copley Square mall, or just malls in general. (It's not like people hated the music). It's the fact that we gave 20th century music such a bad name. Because we are stuck to Schoenberg's idea of unresolved dissoncnes. And Ross pointed out that maybe that's what Schoneberg wanted. He wanted the music to sound so dissonanced, maybe is his way to reflect on today's society. But, the way he organized the music in the most mathematical, conscious way that it influenced many many composers. Such as Messiean, known for his total serialism, And Webern, pointillistic style with 12 tone. Which reminds me of "Less is more." philosophy, and associated it well with "minimalism." If Schoneberg's truly wanted to achieve music that reflects today's world, he definately succeeded!!! Reason I said it is because although the society is very organized within a hiearchy, we have order, justice etc. But, we faced with stress, have to deal with the noise in the city (such as cars engines' their honks, traffic noisce, construction sites, backgroud radio, elevator music, subway's vibrations, other people's conversations especially on their cells etc.) It's a bleak loney world.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Longy Wiki Page
Hey all. I just added a major section to Longy's Wiki page. Let me know what you think. Also, inter-wiki links in RED are non-pages. That is, there is no page to link to. This is another area in which we can improve! There is nothing on collaborative piano. The closest pages I found were Chamber Music and Accompanying. Also, there is no Dalcroze page! There is scant information on the creator, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze which references the discipline, but nothing more. Also, if anyone has any idea on what to do for a Modern American Music page, let me know (or, since it's Wikipedia, just do it!). I was thinking about referencing American Popular Music, but I'm not sure it would send the right message.
Feedback, either here or on Wikipedia would be appreciated!
~Brian
Feedback, either here or on Wikipedia would be appreciated!
~Brian
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Pacifica Quartet optimistic
During the conservations with the Pacifica Quartet on Tuesday, President Zorn steered toward some questions about the future of classical music, like what did the members think of the "graying" of audiences. Their answer was that they did not feel that characterizing audiences as gray was actually true. They felt that each audience was very different from others depending on where they were playing and who the presenter of the concert was. When the presenter was creative, and excited, and tried hard, many different groups of people came to the concerts. They qualified that this was for chamber music series though, and that the situation for orchestras might be different. They also felt that the gradual thinning of boundaries between classical music and other types of music actually encouraged more people to explore classical music. In all, they felt that there was never a time when they were more optimistic about the future of classical music.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Merging Pages
Hey all.
As many, if not all, of us have discovered, there are some fairly bad wiki articles out there. There are many solutions, but I decided to focus my attention today on the MIDI Composition article. It was a short article that had a flag suggesting it be Merged into a larger article, Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Wikipedia has very strict protocol regarding this procedure, and after slogging through the various processes I discovered that it's really just there to keep things from disappearing without a trace. If you ever find yourself in a position to Merge an article, make sure that if there are others interested/invested in it that they know/approve by making a new topic on the discussion page. This will prevent other users from taking offense and simply undoing all your work. For Wikipedia's specific instructions on how to merge pages, go here. It's really not as difficult as it appears!
As many, if not all, of us have discovered, there are some fairly bad wiki articles out there. There are many solutions, but I decided to focus my attention today on the MIDI Composition article. It was a short article that had a flag suggesting it be Merged into a larger article, Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Wikipedia has very strict protocol regarding this procedure, and after slogging through the various processes I discovered that it's really just there to keep things from disappearing without a trace. If you ever find yourself in a position to Merge an article, make sure that if there are others interested/invested in it that they know/approve by making a new topic on the discussion page. This will prevent other users from taking offense and simply undoing all your work. For Wikipedia's specific instructions on how to merge pages, go here. It's really not as difficult as it appears!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Longitude
This week my contribution to the Wiki was a page for Longitude, our schools new music ensemble. I haven't figured out how to make a disambiguation page so if anyone knows how, feel free. That way anybody in the world looking up the geographical concept of Longitude, will have a choice also to read about our new music ensemble!
classical bloggers
I too have updated my wikipedia page. Maybe this is a little meta, but I thought it might be useful to compile a list of notable classical bloggers, and include this new method of communication with our audience in the 'Internet' part of discussion. I'm not really sure yet if I love or don't love classical blogging, especially performer blogs. There are some I do read all the time, yet it sometimes strikes me as being a little precious, sort of lacking in mystery. For example Jeremy Denk's blog is like this great car wreck of self-important navel-gazing mixed with literary criticism, yet I cannot stop reading it. Maybe this will all help to make me a good 'impartial' wiki-writer.
Wiki update
I updated my user page. I would like my page to focus on how outreach is impacting the future of classical music.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Working a bit on Internet topic
Hi all,
I've added content on my user page. I have some wikipedia articles and external articles listed and have created a tentative outline for the Internet section. Feel free to modify or add to it.
Much of the stuff is about DRM and how the recording companies are affected by Internet distribution. I don't know whether this stuff greatly affects classical music or not.
My user page
I've added content on my user page. I have some wikipedia articles and external articles listed and have created a tentative outline for the Internet section. Feel free to modify or add to it.
Much of the stuff is about DRM and how the recording companies are affected by Internet distribution. I don't know whether this stuff greatly affects classical music or not.
My user page
Updates
I've done some editing to my wikipedia user page and there is some stuff there on what I'm editing on wikipedia itself. Check it out.
My User Page
My User Page
LP and computer
LPs can now be recorded onto your computer or lab-top. All you need is a list of the items you need to accomplish the transfer of your LPs to your computer: some albums, a turntable with a reasonable cartridge, a phono preamp, a pair of RCA cables, a computer with sufficient hard drive space, a software application that can record audio directly to the hard disk in the computer, a hardware interface (AKA, a soundcard), a software application that can record digital audio files to the CD burner in the computer, and some blank digital media.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Help!
My Guerilla Opera Article is about to be deleted from Wikipedia. Several flags have been attached to my article. The main problem is that I do not have an outside, third party resource to verify thier existance. So, I'm working on solving the problem by contacting the directors and looking for on the net for any interviews or reviews of the performance.
As a result, the wikipedia people has attached some guidelines for our first articles to our futureclass user page. Also, there are wikibots from Classical Music Project and Opera Project that are very interested in our articles. I'm not sure if we want to connect to their projects or keep separate.
I'm sorry about opening such a big can of worms....
As a result, the wikipedia people has attached some guidelines for our first articles to our futureclass user page. Also, there are wikibots from Classical Music Project and Opera Project that are very interested in our articles. I'm not sure if we want to connect to their projects or keep separate.
I'm sorry about opening such a big can of worms....
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Last Supper
I just came across some news articles about this Italian musician/computer technician who has claimed to have found written music hidden in Leonardo's Last Supper painting. Here is a link to one of the articles that has a diagram:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/09/italy.davincicode.ap/index.html
The articles don't go too in-depth so I don't know what to make of them. But something in one of the articles bugged me:
"The result is a 40-second "hymn to God" that Pala said sounds best on a pipe organ, the instrument most commonly used in Leonardo's time for spiritual music. A short segment taken from a CD of the piece contained a Bach-like passage played on the organ. The tempo was almost painfully slow but musical."
A Bach-like passage? During the Renaissance? Of course, they said it was a short segment from a CD of the piece, but why do they mention that, then, unless it was supposed to be directly related? People, please.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/09/italy.davincicode.ap/index.html
The articles don't go too in-depth so I don't know what to make of them. But something in one of the articles bugged me:
"The result is a 40-second "hymn to God" that Pala said sounds best on a pipe organ, the instrument most commonly used in Leonardo's time for spiritual music. A short segment taken from a CD of the piece contained a Bach-like passage played on the organ. The tempo was almost painfully slow but musical."
A Bach-like passage? During the Renaissance? Of course, they said it was a short segment from a CD of the piece, but why do they mention that, then, unless it was supposed to be directly related? People, please.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Inviting Friends
1. I am going to invite some music friends to see what we're up to on our wiki. I was wondering if people would be willing to make a note of their contributions to wikipedia on their user page, so that anyone can go see what we've already done, rather than keeping it strictly to ourselves.
2. I've also updated the outline (based on our in-class picture) and started getting internal links going. I thought it would be interesting to see what is already available on wikipedia. It's really enlightening. I've started to be convinced that we really can make a great contribution.
To name just a few of the problems with the articles I've linked to thus far:
- "Modern music" might as well not exist - it is the stubbiest stub I've ever seen!
- "Modernism (music) does not cite any references or sources
- "Contemporary classical music" has a section needing citations, and is in major need of some self-referencing help (see all the red text).
- "Tonality" - the factual accuracy of the article is disputed. See the talk page.
- "Twelve-tone technique" - check out the talk page to go to "WikiProject Classical music." The article also needs some "detechnicalization"!
- "Music education" needs a world perspective, not just U.S. Also check out the talk page to see some other issues.
3. I'm just beginning to post my articles by showing what categories in our outline they could support. Would it be worthwhile to start a page with the outline-as-it-goes so that we can all contribute our articles in like fashion?
2. I've also updated the outline (based on our in-class picture) and started getting internal links going. I thought it would be interesting to see what is already available on wikipedia. It's really enlightening. I've started to be convinced that we really can make a great contribution.
To name just a few of the problems with the articles I've linked to thus far:
- "Modern music" might as well not exist - it is the stubbiest stub I've ever seen!
- "Modernism (music) does not cite any references or sources
- "Contemporary classical music" has a section needing citations, and is in major need of some self-referencing help (see all the red text).
- "Tonality" - the factual accuracy of the article is disputed. See the talk page.
- "Twelve-tone technique" - check out the talk page to go to "WikiProject Classical music." The article also needs some "detechnicalization"!
- "Music education" needs a world perspective, not just U.S. Also check out the talk page to see some other issues.
3. I'm just beginning to post my articles by showing what categories in our outline they could support. Would it be worthwhile to start a page with the outline-as-it-goes so that we can all contribute our articles in like fashion?
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Another Online Music Article
I found another interesting article on online music. It only addresses two performers, in particular Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and his collaboration with Saul Williams, but it does talk about the downsides that I found with the Radiohead release.
Most notably it talks about recording quality and the peripherals that make many recording great, i.e. album art, liner notes, etc.
The Article
Most notably it talks about recording quality and the peripherals that make many recording great, i.e. album art, liner notes, etc.
The Article
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Guerilla Opera Wikipedia Article
The article on Guerilla Opera in Wikipedia is almost finshed. I would love comments and corrections since this is my first time putting this kind of thing together.
Click here to view the article
Click here to view the article
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
beating around the bush...
I still can't think about a proper format for our article. "The future of classical music" can hardly be written as a standard entry in an encyclopedia since it is lacking a strong definition. To be honest, I'd rather like to write an essay on this topic than an entry for an encyclopedia. Anyway, my mood changes soon hopefully. In the meantime, I experimented by editing various biography pages (Philipp Melanchthon, Helmuth Lachenmann, György Ligeti, Paul Hindemith, Karlsruhe and Rostock). In most of the cases I set links or added latest news when the person is still alive. I also added a little more data about my old conservatories. I created a new article which probably needs some corrections by a native speaker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donaueschingen_Festival
FCM Outline
Check out my user page for the beginnings of an outline regarding the future of classical music (FCM). It's definitely rough, but it's a start. I'll take all the suggestions and help I can get. I'm sure I'm missing stuff, and it's difficult to figure out how to organize it, because the categories have so much overlap. So jump on in!
Longy Updates
Hey all,
I'm still working on updating the Longy Wiki page. I haven't edited the blatant advertisement yet, but I've been working on getting the historical information more recent then 1985. Check back tomorrow for more!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longy_School_of_Music
I'm still working on updating the Longy Wiki page. I haven't edited the blatant advertisement yet, but I've been working on getting the historical information more recent then 1985. Check back tomorrow for more!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longy_School_of_Music
Waiting for more information
I am writing about the Guerilla Opera group for my article this week. My article is still raw because I am waiting for more information from the other three directors. But if you would like to view my work in process, its at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Zoe_zelda.
Monday, November 5, 2007
free concert on J.S. Bach on youtube.
Most of you already know about this. When you typed in the name "glen, gould" on youtube. You are going to get Glen Gould plays Bach's art of the fuge, prelude and fuge, goldberg variations, inventions, a clip to his movie, his tour in Russia. You can even get to watch the world-class pianists such as Roslyn Tureck, Angela Hewitt etc. plays Bach also. The internet to the free classical music is phenomena. When new technologies are being used, and popularzied, a lot of man-made mechanics are either demolished, or needs to be upgrade. For example, from LP, to A track, to tape, CD, ipods, iphones, itunes, internet access. Music is free already. Especially, the classical ones. Now, LP records for Glen Gould is as cheap as $1.00. But, the Beatles record is in fact getting more expensive, especially when you get one of those collective items, or ones that with their signatures on it.
Here's the answer that I've been wondering about, that is how does online purchase for $.99 cents per song can be so profitable. The answer by Apple itunes explained that, "out of the 99 cents that Apple charges for a song, about 65 cents goes to the music label that recorded it. Another 25 cents goes for "distribution costs"—mainly credit card charges, but also for the servers, bandwidth, and other expenses needed to operate a large online service. Marketing, promotion, and the amortized cost of developing the iTunes software itself eats up the rest." From an artist point of view, they now have more options as to how to get their songs "out-there." For example, the artist can now sell their CD online, also known as "CD Baby, in Portland, Ore., which describes itself as "a little online record store that sells CDs by independent musicians." The second option is to join the MUDDA organization which founded by Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno. "MUDDA stands for Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists, [it] acts as an online collective for artists to sell their music directly to the public." Artists are now able to create, advertise, and sell their music freely among the public. It has no restrained from the record labels. Isn't this is what music is all about?!
All quotations are drawn from this article, http://spectrum.ieee.org/dec04/3857
Here's the answer that I've been wondering about, that is how does online purchase for $.99 cents per song can be so profitable. The answer by Apple itunes explained that, "out of the 99 cents that Apple charges for a song, about 65 cents goes to the music label that recorded it. Another 25 cents goes for "distribution costs"—mainly credit card charges, but also for the servers, bandwidth, and other expenses needed to operate a large online service. Marketing, promotion, and the amortized cost of developing the iTunes software itself eats up the rest." From an artist point of view, they now have more options as to how to get their songs "out-there." For example, the artist can now sell their CD online, also known as "CD Baby, in Portland, Ore., which describes itself as "a little online record store that sells CDs by independent musicians." The second option is to join the MUDDA organization which founded by Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno. "MUDDA stands for Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists, [it] acts as an online collective for artists to sell their music directly to the public." Artists are now able to create, advertise, and sell their music freely among the public. It has no restrained from the record labels. Isn't this is what music is all about?!
All quotations are drawn from this article, http://spectrum.ieee.org/dec04/3857
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Thanks, Hapkidoroll
Thanks, Hapkidoroll! Your instructions help a lot. Colleagues, be sure to click on her user page, too!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Pictures in Wikipedia
Who knows the exact process? Here's what I recall Bayr's saying: "Upload the picture into Wikimedia, then create on the Wikipedia article a link to the Wikimedia post."
Would someone who knows how to do this kindly elaborate or correct the above statement?
Would someone who knows how to do this kindly elaborate or correct the above statement?
Linking to your post
Copy into the body of our blog a posting that includes the URL of the article that you have worked on. Click on the link icon (5th icon from the left, under the Title box) to add a link to the article.
Thus, your Wikipedia contribution, Adam, (for which, thanks) is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Frazin. As a link, it would look like this, with "this" being the word that I highlighted before I clicked on the link icon.
Your blog posting would be a good place to amplify your Wikipedia additions. For instance, Adam, you have amplified Howard Frazin's entry. Did you attend the premiere? Did you like the piece? What can you tell us about it? This pediatrician, did he also commission the piece? Were there in fact jazz elements to it?
We're all ears! I appreciate your enhancing Frazin's presence on Wikipedia.
Thus, your Wikipedia contribution, Adam, (for which, thanks) is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Frazin. As a link, it would look like this, with "this" being the word that I highlighted before I clicked on the link icon.
Your blog posting would be a good place to amplify your Wikipedia additions. For instance, Adam, you have amplified Howard Frazin's entry. Did you attend the premiere? Did you like the piece? What can you tell us about it? This pediatrician, did he also commission the piece? Were there in fact jazz elements to it?
We're all ears! I appreciate your enhancing Frazin's presence on Wikipedia.
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